Fashion Design & Management
The creation, aesthetics, function, and business of fashion Program highlights: Studio-based training in fashion design | Merging of fashion and technology | Business perspectives suited to the dynamics of the fashion industry | On-site historical fashion and textile collection for teaching and research
Overview Fashion Design and Management (FD&M) encompasses the creative, technical, marketing, and communications aspects of the fashion industry. Students pursue creative fashion design, functional and performance aspects of clothing design, and technical aspects of product development, as well as applying business principles to the global fashion industry through a multidisciplinary, liberal arts-based approach. Two options are available within the major. The Fashion Design option prepares students for careers as designers through studio courses that explore concepts and techniques of creating fashion. Students learn to develop a range of products and fashion collections from runway fashion and active sportswear to innovations in “smart” textiles. Conventional techniques, digital tools, and new technologies are used to communicate fashion ideas and develop design skills. Coursework in fashion, design theory and methods, and industry practices are informed by the interdisciplinary approach of the College for a well-rounded education. The Fashion Design Management option teaches students to solve problems in a broadly defined fashion industry by applying an understanding of the visual, theoretical, and technical aspects of the industry to the practical situations of business management. The option combines studies in apparel design and history, textile materials, fashion industry supply chain, communications, economics, entrepreneurship, ethics, and public policy to provide a broad understanding of the products, structure, and practices in the fashion industry.
Sample courses Fibers, Fabrics, and Finishes (FSAD 1350) introduces the properties and performance of textile materials and their production processes and provides a general overview of the textile industry from a materials perspective.
Introduction to Fashion Design (FSAD 1450) covers the principles of garment assembly and flat-patternmaking for apparel design, as well as the use of mass production equipment and methods to analyze, develop, and assemble garments.
Fashion, Aesthetics, and Society (FSAD 2190) introduces students to fashion, beauty, and trends and their integral relationship throughout history. Students learn and explore various aspects of contemporary fashion phenomena, such as fashion-art collaborations, media-effects on body image, the impact of new technologies on fashion and lifestyle trends, and other significant issues of society manifest in fashion of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Fashion Product Management (FSAD 2310) provides an overview of the fashion supply chain with emphasis on the U.S. apparel industry. Students will learn key concepts for managing the development, marketing and distribution of fashion products including consumer behavior, trend forecasting, brand management, merchandise planning, and multi-channel distribution.
Activewear Design and Product Development (FSAD 2660) is a projects-based course in which students explore the relationship between technology and design, and the impact of production issues on manufactured activewear. Students learn computer-aided patternmaking; activewear construction methods; manufacturing technologies; communication of technical details, flats, specifications; and costing of garments.
OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS College of Human Ecology human.cornell.edu/admissions College of Human Ecology: Examining [email protected] human life from a scientific, social and human.cornell.edu/fsad design perspective Research Research examples Undergraduates can participate in • Exploring uses for post-consumer textile waste department research that focuses on • Smart garment development expanding knowledge and creating new • Cornell Fashion and Textile Collection exhibition research and sample understandings in areas of fashion and preparation fibrous materials that address end-uses for future needs and make an impact on • Thermal comfort and ergonomics of protective clothing humanity as a whole. • Fit and sizing research using the Cornell Body Scanner A sampling of department research units includes the Cornell Digital Honors program Fashion and Body Scan Research Lab, Cornell Performance Apparel Design The Honors Program recognizes the highest level of academic achievement among Lab, and the Textiles Nanotechnology FD&M majors. The program allows qualified undergraduates the opportunity to Lab. Students also have the opportunity pursue independent creative scholarship/research under the supervision of a mem - to work with, draw inspiration from, ber of the FD&M faculty. Students apply to the Honors Program during their junior and conduct research in the Cornell year. Fashion and Textile Collection .
Experiential opportunities Study-away options FD&M students participate in engaged Many FD&M students spend a semester studying abroad in international fashion learning opportunities that provide centers such as London, Paris, and Milan, or take part in Cornell exchange valuable practical knowledge while programs in Hong Kong, or New Zealand. testing their academic and career interests. Internship examples
Participation in design competitions and • Balenciaga • Phillip Lim 3.1 mentored independent projects is • Malia Mills • PVH Calvin Klein encouraged. Students regularly participate in and win scholarships in • MBF Trend Consulting • Tommy Hilfiger the prestigious YMA Fashion • Milly • Tory Burch Scholarship Fund and CFDA Design • Nike Competitions, and the Barbara L. Kuhlman fiber and wearable arts Student organizations program. The Cornell Fashion Collective presents an annual student-managed and designed Fashion Show, which features the apparel designs of our students and others across campus. Students connect to professionals in the fashion industry through the student-run organization, the Cornell Fashion Industry Network .
Professional pathways Graduate/Professional school Students who go on to graduate work are well prepared for programs in business Graduates of the FD&M major are administration, art business, communications, marketing, law, museum studies, attractive candidates for leadership apparel design, costume history, textile design, and theatrical costuming. positions in fashion and related industries and have earned a reputation among employers in the apparel and Sample career paths textiles industries for their ability to Collection Designer-Own Label, BY., Bonnie Young think creatively. Senior Project Manager, Macy’s Merchandising Group Alumni are designers, product Senior Director of Supply Strategy, PVH developers, buyers, marketing managers, communicators, data Creative Director, Echo Design application developers, and financial Executive Director, ShopBAZAAR.com at Harper’s BAZAAR analysts for influential fashion houses Senior Vice President Merchandising, BaubleBar and retailers or as entrepreneurs under their own labels. Graduates also do Senior Technical Developer, Target specialized design in fields such as elite Senior Digital Designer, Nike athletics and the protective clothing Senior Director, Global Product Licensing, Michael Kors industry, and use their creativity in public-relations, fashion journalism, Curatorial Manager, Rare and Historical, Ralph Lauren Library publishing, and theater design. Digital Marketing Entrepreneur, Maison MRKT